Lystrialle @Lystrialle@vocalounge.cafe

So I think vocalsynth users are the *last* people who would ever argue that those talented and experienced people are disposable commodities. Don't you ever forget that.

We're where we are *because* of their training, experience, and hard work. People will pick their favored vocalsynth library of choice *because* it was from someone they admired who made something that touched them in the past. Having to recreate those emotions "by hand", I only admire those people even more. They're doing *us* the favor.

So don't you dare throw vocalsynth users under the bus as people who should be supporting this kind of thing. *We* wanted a better appreciation of what a voice even is in the first place. We also hold high regard for the accomplished people who gave us things to work with. Do you know how much the vocalsynth community adores the experienced voice actors and vocalists who were kind enough to lend their time to helping make one? None of this would be possible *without* them.

Once you've done it enough, you appreciate singers and actors who can naturally do these inflections even *more*. The emotions in a vocalsynth-produced vocal line aren't generated by AI, they're manually tweaked by the human behind it. *Someone* has to have the work and effort and thought, and there's a good reason that if "labor" is a question we just go and hire actual vocalists or actors.

There's a reason the vocalsynth community specifically prides itself on being a community of indies. There's a reason "tuning" is considered an art form with "styles" different to each user. We do this all for self-expression, not to slap things in AI and to call it a day. AI streamlines the process so we can get a bit closer to what we're trying to convey, but we do these hands-on, tweaking tiny things to our liking the way we want it.

Apropos of nothing, I'm finally going to be starting on Blue Reflection 2 this weekend. I'm still on the fence about whether I'm going to stream it or not, but if I do please look forward to it ~

It's disappointing if your friend doesn't like what you like, but it doesn't mean it was bad, your tastes just didn't align and they were more bothered by some things than you were. I love almost every Atelier game I've played but I wouldn't recommend half of them to most people.

I think it helps to know what parts of your favorite media might turn others off. Not so you can "acknowledge its flaws" or tear it down or anything, but when you recommend things to your friends you can gauge which things will be make-or-break turnoffs and which won't.

That goes for you UTAU devs too, especially those of you seeing the way the envelope's being pushed and start pressuring yourself for a higher band of "quality". I don't think it's bad to do that -- but only if you really *want* that. Make sure that's what *you* want.

"Why are you still using (whatever)?" Well, I have my own reasons. That's what making things is like. More options are good, more ways to express oneself are good, I think all the new options being provided are good and I like the idea of pushing the envelope further. But! Not reaching ~the most humanlike quality possible~ doesn't mean it's inferior or a failure.

I've been here since 2009, I fell in love with music made with Vocaloid sound and synth quality so choppy and off-pitch it'd be laughable to a lot of people now. But hell, everyone was trying their best and it was respectable work. It's still respectable now. So when people act like the main goal should be clean, human-like sound quality that sounds as fluid as possible, I get it, but also that's not the only priority for me.